iOS gamers spend five times more money on games than Android gamers

Most players on iPhone and iPad tend to spend more money than those playing on an Android device -- five times more, to be exact. This according to a Newzoo study that examined the growth of mobile gaming in Europe and North America. It showed that there are now 101 million American mobile gamers, 69% of which are playing on smartphones and 21% play on tablets. Of them, iPhone claimed 19 million gamers, which is 28% of everyone that plays games on a smartphone. Surprisingly, the iPod touch managed to snag nearly as many with 18 million players. As you might expect, the iPad rocks the tablet gaming world with 12.7 million gamers (a 60% slice of the whole tablet pie). In the U.S., the vast majority (91%) of revenue was made through various in-app streams, not counting advertising, though that figure is a bit lower for Germany and France, which ranged between 73% and 87%. This data was gleaned from a survey of 17,000 people plus data from Distimo, who do regular reports on app downloads.

This data isn't a huge surprise considering how much Apple has polished the purchasing process on iOS and through iTunes. Game piracy is a very real concern for many Android developers, and likely contributes to iOS being as profitable as it is. What's more surprising to me is that in-app purchases constitute such a big chunk of revenue; I'm rarely interested in spending any cash on in-app purchases, and would much rather pay cash up-front for a full game without being harassed by ads or prompts to buy virtual currency. The good freemium games out there will tend to have their IAPs mostly in the background, and will naturally lead people to them through engaging gameplay rather than obnoxious pop-ups.

How much do you guys tend to spend on iPad and iPhone gaming? Are in-app purchases appealing to you? Developers, how much more profitable do you find your iOS titles compared to Android?